Some 2010 "lighting" details

Do you think that the LED headlights will be a simple 'swap' mod and not a rewiring?

a pop out pop in type of thing?

I just love the look of the LED lights but really want the moon roof/solar package

 

Didn't think about the auto leveling thing. Good point.

I guess when the parts eventually become public we'll see just how difficult/expensive it would be.

I'm also hoping an aftermarket product comes available as an easy swap.

LED's are beautiful

 

Makes sense. Well, hopefully someone comes out with an easy swap that has LEDs in the headlights. That would make me a happy camper

 

Are led taillights standard?

 

First of all, a HUGE thanks to HTMLSpinnr for this very valuable information.

If I've read (and understood ) the above correctly, each headlamp unit uses three LED's @ 10.1 W to produce (excellent) low beams, i.e. 10.1 W x 3 x 2 = 60.6 W. I suppose that when you use the (conventional) high beams, you'll just add 60 W per side to get to a total of 180.6 W.

I do not want to be a spoilsport, but I am at a loss to see the vast improvement over the Prius II, which had (at least in the US and for experiment-friendly Europeans like me) a hi+lo-beam HID option.
HID's are rated at 35 W, which means a low beam consumption of 70W - and as the HID lights on the Prius 2 used the same bulbs for high and low beams the high beam consumption remained at a very reasonable 70 W - quite a lot less than the 180.6 W used by the new one.

Has anyone got any info on what type of conventional bulb is used for the high beams in the Prius III? I've been using retrofit HID bulbs for early 2 years for the high beams on the RX400h which for near on half the power consumption offer vastly enhanced lighting, and as I do quite a lot of my long-distance driving in the very darkest hours, it's of some importance to me.

Also, when enabled, how is DRL implemented?? Using the "A" LED's or through something (preferably LED's) in the sector of the headlamp cluster just above the "A" LED's??

 

The LED low beams use less power than the HIDs (60.6 vs. 70, or 13% less--although the Toyota docs say 17%). That's what you're using the lion's share of the time, so while the high beam configuration does seem to use more power, what % of the time are you using them (me--only when I flash-to-pass )?

 

If what you write about the DRL's is true also for EU-spec cars, this is bad news.
Firstly because the 60 W halogens - even dimmed - draw far more wattage than LED's.
Secondly because they look ugly, IMHO, confronted to LED's.
Thirdly because it would mean it would be very difficult to put in a set of aftermarket HID bulbs in the high beams to obtain a superior night vision - because unlike you, stream, I often drive very long distances in the night, on nearly deserted roads - so I do use my high beams.
Before the low beam-only Xenon RX400h I have had two ML's with Bi-Xenon lights, and the first mod to the RX was putting in Xenon burners for the high beams. Our current Prius II also has aftermarket Bi-Xenons - so conventional high beams are not really acceptable.

 

Hi

Thanks for the explanation. While I see from the picture that indeed the projector lens LED's (B + C) are not very visible, I would have thought that the "parabolic cylinder" LED (A) would have been more visible.

Looking closer at the LED-equipped headlight cluster (see attached photo), you have the three low beam LED's (1, 2, 3), the 60W conventional high beam (4), and something (5) that to me looks as a DRL, with either a conventional or (hopefully) LED light source.

Or is it just a "dummy" reflector put there for design reasons?

 

you dont want your HID's in general to be DRL either, unless you want to pay a lot of money to replace them regulary

i think big benefit for leds is not only lower energy consumption, but also the fact that you wont have to replace them, which is very costly for HID's.